The Gift Ch. 02

It seemed like I was always packing. My beautiful baby girl, Rona, was babbling in her cradle, and I was quietly trying to pack up my suitcase. It was late evening, the lamps were lit, my grandmother had long ago gone to bed, the mosquito netting around her softly blowing in the scented breeze. I was working as quickly as I could, trying not to forget things – oh, yes, my engagement ring from Pierce, the diamond heirloom my grandmother had given him to present to me. I debated a moment whether to take it and decided against it, leaving it nestled in its velvet case. The picture of Pierce, Rona, and I. "Baby, how am I going to leave you?" I whispered, tears filling my eyes. I tucked the picture away into the folds of my clothes.

Pierce was downstairs; I would have to creep out the back way. Thanks to grandmother's teaching I was now well able to hide my thoughts from him. It stung me to lie to him, but I couldn't stay here in this madness anymore, I couldn't! I grabbed my handbag and quickly counted the cash, and smiled to see my credit cards still in my purse. I would stay one night at a small hotel in the French Quarter of New Orleans and then go back up north. I had to get back up north, away from this place. I dropped a tender kiss on Rona's forehead and tiptoed out of the room.

I crept down the back stairs, the goose bumps rising on my damp skin, every hair that fell across my bare shoulders startling me. I slipped carefully out the screen door, the crickets the only sound in the silent night.

When I reached a main street I hailed a cab and settled inside, shivering in spite of the night's warmth. I firmly pressed my thighs together, trying in vain to quell my nervousness.

"Where to, miss?" asked the driver, trying to hide his curiosity about the young lady in his back seat.

"To New Orleans, the French Quarter," I replied breathlessly.

"That's gonna be expensive," he said slyly, looking over his shoulder at me and letting his eyes wander over my body.

"I know that." I snapped. "I have money."

He shrugged and pulled away from the curb. I breathed a sigh of relief and pulled my head stubbornly from taking a last look at my home, my husband, my child. I focused on getting to New Orleans.

I paid the driver absently and stepped out in front of a rather nice looking hotel in the French Quarter. The city was full of light, alive, vibrant. People were moving everywhere, laughing and gesturing at each other. I felt a tingle of excitement. I was free! My step was almost buoyant as I hurried into the hotel lobby, my skirt swaying gently around my knees. I requested a simple room and had the bellboy bring my bag upstairs, and out of curiosity and excitement decided to go to the hotel lounge for a drink. After all, I was twenty-one, and had never been to a bar before in my life. I didn't worry that Pierce would have people looking for me yet – he probably didn't even notice I was gone. I decided to take advantage of my freedom in the city and sat down at the bar.

I noticed several men looking at me and by reading their thoughts, could tell that they were undressing me with their eyes, trying to imagine having sex with me. Of course many of them believed I was underage. Despite giving birth to Rona my body was still tight and virginal and my hair still long and glossy. The only change was that my breasts had grown slightly larger, which of course made me even more desirable to men.

Only one man caught my attention. His eyes weren't focused on me, but on his drink, and his thoughts were preoccupied and jumbled. Feeling some interest in him, I asked the bartender to send him another drink on my tab and watched him receive it gratefully, nodding his acceptance at me. In a bold move I decided to sit down with him, discover him. I was intrigued at this gentleman whose mind was so difficult to read.

He wore a light jacket and jeans, and his hair was light brown with blonde sun streaks. I noticed immediately that he had very nice hands and a slightly muscular build. His eyes were deep blue and sorrowful. As soon as I sat down I felt intrusive and rather foolish, and just as I was about to get up he smiled, although the effect was rather painful, since he was quite obviously so sad.

"Hi," I said stupidly, ashamed of my own boldness and beginning to feel rather conspicuous in this dim bar.

"Hello," he replied. "Thank you for the drink."

"You're welcome. You looked like you needed it."

He chuckled softly and nodded. "I do. Sean Cornell."

I smiled softly. "Dixie St. Clair." Immediately I realized that I should have given him a false name to protect my identity, but I trusted this man, I wasn't sure why.

"St. Clair," he mused. "Sounds pretty rich."

"It is," I replied, laughing. "But I'm not… you might say I'm excommunicated."

"Sorry to hear it," he said. "You old enough to be in here, Miss St. Clair? How'd you get past the bartender?"

"I'm old enough," I said, smiling. "I know I look young. But since you were so impertinent to allude to my age, may I ask you yours?"

"Too old for you, sweetheart," he said, smiling again. "Twenty-eight, actually."

"My husband is thirty," I replied gently, and upon seeing the shock register on his face, added, "I…ran from him, in a way. Don't feel guilty."

He looked relieved. "Well, I just found out my girlfriend is engaged to someone else, since we're sharing. So this drink is coming in pretty handy." He tipped his glass toward me in a mock toast.

I looked at him thoughtfully. "Maybe we should have another upstairs," I whispered.

He looked at me carefully, trying to see if I was serious enough to mean what I said. "Your husband…" he whispered back.

"He won't look for me here, not tonight." I replied. "I have to leave tomorrow… I would like to spend the night with you."

Sean rose slowly from his chair and took my hand, stopping briefly to pay the bartender. I led him upstairs to my room and called room service for a bottle of white wine. "I haven't felt this way about a man since I got married," I whispered.

Sean was kissing my neck, my throat. His lips were soft and his skin scented, manly. I had never been with a man with such incredible strength before, and his touch was different somehow. Not too rough, but not as gentle as Pierce. After we were married, Pierce had become less and less my husband and more distant. He stopped touching me after we went to bed, until eventually I had begun sleeping in the nursery. Grandmother refused to comment on why Pierce was so distant from me. I was frustrated and confused, and eventually Grandmother stopped seeing me, too. Feeling so alone, I felt as if I had no escape. I wasn't allowed to go out unless it was supervised. I could not take the baby anywhere. It was madness.

"Dixie," Sean whispered. "Are you sure about this, honey?"

"Yes," I replied softly. "I need you tonight, I need you so badly, Sean."

His kisses moved down on my body as he lay me down on the bed. His touch was more demanding, more urgent, than anyone I had ever known. He kissed the tops of my breasts, pulling my shirt over my head not ungently. "Dixie, you've got beautiful breasts," he said softly, before pulling my nipple to his mouth to suckle. His hands roamed my flat stomach and upper thighs, not yet daring to reach for my heat, but aching to do it.

I unbuttoned his shirt, feeling every solid muscle underneath as I did so. Sean was pure strength, pure animal. I pulled his chest toward me and licked his nipple gently, causing him to cry out. "Jesus, Dixie," he said, smiling. His hands fumbled at his belt buckle and my own struggled with my skirt.

"Leave it on," he said breathlessly, commanding me. His voice aroused me even more and I reached under my skirt to take off my now wet panties. He reached for me, slid deep into me. I cried out in lust for him, crazed with his power and strength.

"Fuck me, Sean," I cried out senselessly. I felt like sobbing. This kind of feeling had been absent from my life since the first time I met Pierce. Nay, this kind of feeling had never been a part of my life. Pierce made me cry because his mind was penetrating my own while we made love. Sean was totally physical, his body and mine were moving so fast in rhythm that I could hardly tell where he left off and I began.

"Oh, baby, that's it girl, oh, oh I'm going to come honey, you want it?" he said breathlessly.

"No, no!" I shouted. How could I forget again? "Not in me," I closed my eyes and prepared for my own orgasm.

Sean pulled out and released onto my stomach, just as I cried out in ecstasy. Our bodies spent, he pulled me close to him and brushed the hair out of my eyes.

"Dixie," he said, still out of breath. "Honey, tell me how old you are, really."

He was worried about being charged. I could read it in his mind. "I'm twenty-one," I said, giggling. "I can show you ID, if you want."

"That ain't necessary, sweetie," he laughed. "Wow, you really wore me out."

"Good," I said softly. "Maybe you won't run away from me by morning."

"No way, sweetheart," he replied. "I'm here for ya. But don't you have to leave?"

His words left me heartbroken. I did have to leave, and I didn't want to. I loved this city, and I didn't want to be chased back to my parents, whom I hadn't spoken with since my marriage. I left Sean's question unanswered and cuddled close to his body before falling deep asleep.

When I woke, I had a vaguely unpleasant sensation. I had been dreaming of Rona and Pierce, and I realized that Pierce was somewhere, looking for me. He had been trying to get into my mind by placing Rona in my thoughts! I looked to my right and saw that Sean was still sleeping, his hair tousled and his muscular arm thrown across the pillow. He looked so innocent that I smiled to myself before heading to the bathroom to shower.

When I got out of the shower he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He ran a hand through his hair. "Wow, it's pretty early still, sweetheart," he said. "You up for good now?"

I glanced at the clock and saw it read seven a.m. "Yeah…" I said softly, leaving my sentence unfinished. "I… guess I should be going now." I felt tears in my eyes in spite of myself.

"Don't cry because of me, honey," Sean whispered softly. "It's alright. Everyone needs someone to rebound. We both got it with each other. Now you can move on with a clear conscience."

"It's not that simple," I smiled sadly. "Listen…I want to stay with you. Do you live here? Is there somewhere we can go… somewhere where they won't allow other people in?"

"Honey, if anyone's gonna mess with you, I'll have something to say about it. No one's getting past me."

"No, it isn't that easy, Sean." I said. "Do you believe in… things? That you can't see?"

He looked uneasy. "What do you mean, Dixie? Like God? Honey if you want me to turn Buddhist I will, you just say the word." He laughed.

"No, I mean like mind reading. Telepathy." I was dead serious now, searching his face for his understanding.

"What are you trying to tell me, Dix?" he said slowly.

"A lot. Listen, sit down, and I'll try my best to explain to you."

Sean was silent for a few minutes, and I watched him digest what he had been told. I could tell by his thoughts that he believed me, without a doubt. But what now? What would happen with the two of us? And I couldn't stop thinking of Rona, so I knew Pierce or one of his men was getting closer. I had to get out of this hotel!

"Sean, I know this is a lot to take in right now, but I need you to trust me. They're getting quite close now, close enough that soon I'll know where they are. I need to get out of here fast, is that alright? Where can we go?"

He thought quickly and said, "We can go to my apartment downtown, but Dixie, honey, if they're going to come after you…I mean, I'm new to all this. What can they do?"

I was quiet for a few moments before answering him. "I don't know, Sean. I just don't know. I'm…scared. I don't think they'd hurt me…but now that they have Rona to carry on the line, I just don't know."

"Oh, they aren't gonna hurt you, honey. Don't you worry about that."

I smiled gratefully and snuggled myself on Sean's shoulder. "Well, shall we, then? They'll be within sight in about a half hour."

"Sure, sweetheart."

I went downstairs to the hotel desk and paid for my room. I was nervous about putting charges on my credit cards since it could be traced through Pierce, but I was running low on cash.

Sean walked up to the desk and smiled. "I ain't no mind reader, sweetheart, but I can tell when a lady's in distress. You running low on cash?"

I smiled back into his down-turned face. "Well, it isn't that I can't afford it, you know. I'm just anxious about using credit cards."

"I'll pay for it, okay? You get it next time."

I looked up at him gratefully and took his hand. I waited in the lobby while he ran out to hail a cab, and with a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching, I moved quickly from the lobby to the cab. Sean and I were soon whisking off to downtown New Orleans.

"Maybe we should get better acquainted," Sean suggested.

"Well, I've told you all about me," I said.

"No, you haven't. You've told me about your family, and your gift. What about Miss St. Clair herself?" he asked playfully, rubbing the inside of my thigh.

"Well, how about something about Sean Cornell?" I said, shifting my body so that he could feel the wetness between my legs.

"Hmm, where to start. I'm a born and bred Louisiana man, came to New Orleans six years ago to start a business. I'm a contractor. Planned on being married by this time, but looks like I'm still single. Can't run a business and date at the same time, as I soon found out. Got a dog named Chance, he's a golden retriever, so I hope you like dogs. Other than that, not a lot to tell."

"Well, Mr. Cornell," I purred. "What about the women? Surely you weren't chaste all these years."

He grinned at me and winked. "A man can't tell all his secrets at once, ma'am."

We reached his house and I couldn't keep my hands off him. Ever since Rona was born I was hornier than ever, and I had to have this man's body on top of me again. I tore at his shirt, kissing his ears, forehead, neck, whatever came close to my lips. I opened his belt buckle and slipped his jeans to his ankles, my hands wrapping around his stiffening member.

"You don't wait a minute, do ya," he whispered thickly.

I wrapped my lips around the head of his cock, engulfing him, my tongue swirling around. My hand pumped him gently, while playing with his balls employed my other hand.

"God, sweetheart, you taste so good," I whispered, my hands dropping to my own wetness. Sean growled and picked me up, carrying me to his bed, dropping his pants on the floor as he walked. He tossed me gently on the bed and ripped my shirt off, exposing my braless breasts. His hand played with my sex roughly, using his thumb to stimulate my clit. His face disappeared between my thighs and soon I felt the familiar warmth of a mouth covering my pussy. His tongue worked inside me and flicked roughly over my clit.

"Oh god baby," I screamed, clutching gently at his head. When I finally bucked my hips in orgasm, Sean grabbed both my wrists and threw them over my head, kissing me sloppily. He slipped his cock easily into my opening and fucked me hard, holding my wrists quite carelessly over my head. I was screaming incoherently, and his moans mingled with mine. "Baby, don't…don't come…" I moaned breathlessly.

Sean's eyes were vacant; his body had taken over his mind. He kept pumping into me, making me cry out in orgasm again.

"I'm gonna come," he moaned.

"No, no! Not in me!" I cried out.

Sean was already coming, deep into my opening. When he was spent, he rolled off me and lay breathing heavily.

"What the hell?" I screamed. "What were you thinking?" I scrambled off the bed and into the bathroom, dissolving into tears.

"Dixie, what the hell is the matter?" he yelled through the door. "You are going to divorce your husband, aren't you? Why the hell can't you marry me? Am I not good enough for the St. Clair name? Just a cheap fuck for you?"

"Stop it, Sean," I sobbed. "You know that's not it. What will we do if I'm pregnant? I'm not divorced. Pierce has people looking everywhere for me. I don't know what they'll do to this baby."

"You act like they're gonna get you, kid. They don't have to find you," he said more gently. "Come on, honey, open the door. I want you, I need you. Please, Dixie."

I put on his robe, which I found hanging behind the door, before opening it a crack.

"Dixie, we've only known each other for less than forty-eight hours, and I want to marry you, honey. Doesn't that speak for something? I want you to have my baby, honey. I didn't even want that of my last girlfriend, for Christ's sake."

"Sean, I can't have your baby. I just can't. It isn't about you, or me. It's about Pierce and my grandmother, and my parents. It's about the fact that I have a life in New York…"

"That you want to get back to. So I was just a fling for you."

"That's not true, and you know it."

Sean threw his hands up and left the bathroom door. I followed him out and watched him put his jeans on.

"Dixie, you gonna be alright if I leave for a bit? I have to pick some stuff up from the grocery store so that we can eat." He spoke wearily, as if he was dejected.

"Don't look like that, sweetheart," I said softly. "I'll try to make it work out. I promise."

"Just get a divorce, honey. I'll do the rest," he said, closing the door behind him.

"She's in the city still, I can tell," Pierce said into the phone at his office. "I don't want you to alert police. I want to take her back, and if police find out, they won't release her to us. Just find her. Use your special sense. And stop thinking of Rona. I think she's sensing it better than I thought, and instead of using it to work for us, she's working it against us. Think of anything except her."

He was quiet for a minute, listening to the man on the other end. "Not yet. Just make sure she gets back to me. I'll tell you why when you need to know."

I was humming around the apartment after I'd gotten dressed, wondering what it would be like to have Sean's child. He was so handsome that I'm sure it would be an adorable baby. I patted my belly softly and wondered if I had become pregnant.

"Honey? I'm home," Sean smiled.

"I'm sorry for overreacting earlier, sweetie," I said softly, wrapping my arms around his waist.

"No problem, honey," he smiled. "Listen, instead of eating here, I thought maybe it'd be more fun if we went out for dinner."

"I'd love to…" I said. "But I think Pierce would find me out in the public."

"I promise he won't."

"You can't promise that," I laughed. A fleeting sense of danger went through my mind. I hesitated a minute, slightly distrustful. What was that?

"What's wrong, honey?" Sean asked.

"Nothing," I smiled. "Must just be nerves. Listen, did you pick up a pregnancy test at the grocery store? I know I can't use it yet, but I'd like to have one on hand."

"Oh, uh, I didn't get to the grocery store. I got stopped by some of my employees," he said quickly.

"Oh," I said absently, looking out the window. "Actually, going out for dinner sounds great, honey. I'd love to."

"Great!" He beamed. "We'll go to a place just around the corner from here. But listen, since you wanted that pregnancy test, I'll run out and get it now, and then we'll have it here. And I'll get some milk and fruit while I'm at it, so that we've got something healthy to eat in this place." He patted my belly gently and smiled, a slight pain shining in his eyes. "I'll miss you," he said tenderly.

I wondered why he was acting so strangely. "Miss you too, honey," I said. "See you in a few minutes."